Operating room wastage [Neurosurgery Wiki]

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====== Operating room wastage ======


[[Operating room]]s generate 42% of a [[hospital]]’s [[revenue]] and 30% of hospital [[waste]]
((McKesson Information Systems Inc and the Healthcare Financial Management
Association. Achieving Operating Room Efficiency Through Process Integration.
2010. Healthc Financ Manage. 2003; 57(3):suppl 1-supp7. Available at: http://
www.mckesson.com/static_files/McKesson.com/MPT/Documents/HFMA
ProcessIntegration.pdf. Accessed May 20, 2010.))
((Esaki RK MA. Wastage of Supplies and Drugs in the Operating Room. Medscape
Anesthesiology. 2010. Available at: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/710513.
Accessed April 20, 2010)).

One surgery alone may produce more waste than a family of 4 would create in 1 wk
((Souhrada L. OR and materials: the yin and yang. Mater Manag Health Care.
1999;8(3):18-20.))
((Practice Greenhealth. Greening the OR: Guidance Documents. Reston, VA.
2011. Available at: https://practicegreenhealth.org/sites/default/files/upload-files/
gor_fullset_webmaterials.pdf. Accessed May 20, 2017.))
((Park KW, Dickerson C. Can efficient supply management in the operating room
save millions? Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2009;22(2):242-248.))
((Force. USA. Medical Waste Incinerator Waste Management Plan. Herndon: Malcolm
Grow Medical Center; 2001.)).

As much as 80% of solid waste for an operation may be generated before a patient enters the OR
((Donaldson K. Save the planet: recycling in the OR. Infection Control
Today. 2000. Available at: https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/general-hais/
save-planet-recycling-or. Accessed June 23, 2018.)).

A significant source of waste is plastic packaging, with many surgical products packaged in large containers and double wrapped polypropylene plastic utilized to cover surgical instruments and maintain sterility during storage. This “[[blue wrap]]” contributes up to 19% of the total waste from ORs and creates significant disposal costs
((Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 9 Pollution Prevention
Program. Reusable totes, blue wrap recycling and composting. 2002. Available
at: https://noharm-uscanada.org/sites/default/files/documents-files/842/Reusable_
Totes.pdf. Accessed June 23, 2018)).

According to the University of Minnesota Medical Center, the blue wrap is estimated to account for 19% of OR waste and 5% of all hospital waste
((Albert MG, Rothkopf DM. Operating room waste reduction in plastic and hand
surgery. Plast Surg (Oakv). 2015;23(4):235-238)).
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Medical waste is often incinerated. The process of [[incineration]] releases nitrous oxide and agents known to be carcinogenic including dioxins, furans, and polychlorinated biphenyls into the environment. These toxins have been associated with infertility, hormonal change, diminished fetal weights, and can also increase
the acid content in groundwater and soil.